Best marathon: 2:23:57 (2007, St. George). Won the Top of Utah Marathon twice (2003,2004). Won the USATF LDR circuit in Utah in 2006.

Draper Days 5 K 15:37 (2004)

Did not know this until June 2012, but it turned out that I've been running with spina bifida occulta in L-4 vertebra my entire life, which explains the odd looking form, struggles with the top end speed, and the poor running economy (cannot break 16:00 in 5 K without pushing the VO2 max past 75).

Short-Term Running Goals:

Qualify for the US Olympic Trials. With the standard of 2:19 on courses with the elevation drop not exceeding 450 feet this is impossible unless I find an uncanny way to compensate for the L-4 defect with my muscles. But I believe in miracles.

Long-Term Running Goals:

2:08 in the marathon. Become a world-class marathoner. This is impossible unless I find a way to fill the hole in L-4 and make it act healthy either by growing the bone or by inserting something artificial that is as good as the bone without breaking anything important around it. Science does not know how to do that yet, so it will take a miracle. But I believe in miracles.

Personal:

I was born in 1973. Grew up in Moscow, Russia. Started running in 1984 and so far have never missed more than 3 consecutive days. Joined the LDS Church in 1992, and came to Provo, Utah in 1993 to attend BYU. Served an LDS mission from 1994-96 in Salt Lake City, Utah. Got married soon after I got back. My wife Sarah and I are parents of nine children: Benjamin, Jenny, Julia, Joseph, Jacob, William, Stephen, Matthew, Mary, and Bella. We home school our children.

I am a software engineer/computer programmer/hacker whatever you want to call it, and I am currently working for RedX. Aside from the Fast Running Blog, I have another project to create a device that is a good friend for a fast runner. I called it Fast Running Friend.

Favorite Quote:

...if we are to have faith like Enoch and Elijah we must believe what they believed, know what they knew, and live as they lived.

This race was a learning experience for us. I incorrectly assumed that since Benjamin was now older and his tempo runs were faster that would necessarily mean that his ability to hold the pace in the half-marathon would also be better. So I estimated he would be able to run 1:12 for sure, and with some luck 1:10. What I miscalculated was that when a young man matures his aerobic capabilities in combination with muscle power could be quite a bit of out of sync with the fuel capabilities. So when he hits a high gear, he sucks oxygen like there is no tomorrow, and goes fast, but he does not yet have the fuel stores. So he is good for a 10 K at a decent speed, and then bonks hard. This is exactly what happened to Benjamin. He went through the first 11.097 K ( 10 K away from the half finish) in 37:49, which is 3:24.5 per kilometer or 5:29 per mile, or 34:05 average over 10 K, so he was probably a little under 34:00 through the 10 K - new 10 K PR, and then he crashed hard suffering through the last 10 K in 37:44 - 6:04 average. I did not realize he could crash that hard thinking maybe 5:50s at the worst. But he was out of fuel badly, so it was basically like hitting a marathon wall.

My race went more or less as expected, except at the end when I caught up to Benjamin, I sacrificed a few seconds to help him. Then he found another gear and blasted the last half mile, so he beat me again, but I am happy with that.

We flew in on the "private jet" - Allegiant flight from Provo to Mesa and stayed with our blogger Burt and his family. He drove us to the start of the race in the morning. I warmed up 1.5, Benjamin did about 0.5. It was raining and there was some wind.

Mile 1 - 5:22. I guided Benjamin through the first mile, even took the wind for him until we found a couple of people to follow - Joseph Ekoum and David Harkin, both masters. We got to the mile in 5:22. This was too fast for me, but this was part of the plan. This was Benjamin's only second half, and I wanted to be with him in the beginning even if it would cost me later. In restrospect, both of us should have started slower to get a better time.

Mile 2 - 5:37 (10:59). I backed off and watched Benjamin and the other two runners disappear into the dark. This was perhaps the most difficult mile of the race for me. I worried that I had just fed my son to the wolves, I worried about him, and at the same time I was suffering the consequences of my fast start while fighting the wind and the rain alone knowing we still had most of the race ahead of us

Mile 3 - 5:45 (16:44). Very similar to the second mile.

Mile 4 - 5:49 (22:33). Got caught by Michael Anderson and Trent Tailor, was able to latch on. At first it was hard, but then I got into a rhythm and began to feel in control.

Mile 5 - 5:46 (28:19). Running with Michael and Trent.

Miles 6 and 7 - 11:31 (39:50). Still with Michael and Trent. Passed the start of the 10 K mat which registered our times in 39:10.

Mile 8 - 5:43 (45:33)

Things are fuzzy after that. The pace picked up after 7, the split for 8 is consistent with the effort, but then the next two miles average out to 5:32 if I were to trust the 10 mile split of 56:39. That would make the 5 K from 10 K start to this point 17:29 and the last 5 K 19:16. I am more inclined to believe the first 5 K was around 17:50 while the second 18:56. At 10 miles Trent and Michael dropped me. Soon after that John Reih passed me - I tried to latch on, but could not. At the same time around 9 miles I spotted a runner in front of me. My vision gets blurry when I run hard, so I could not quite tell who it was, but I knew that the most likely candidate was Benjamin. I hoped it were somebody else, but as the time went on I began to recongize Benjamin's form. Knowing that Benjamin was struggling made it difficult for me to race. I knew he was out of fuel, and I also knew of his state of mind. As I tried to think of what to do I involuntarily eased off. My brain was not working very well. What I should have done was instead of easying off is floor the gas pedal, catch up to him ASAP, and tell him to drink some Powerade at the next aid station.

I caught up to him somewhere between 11 and 11.5 and told him to latch on. I slowed the pace down to make it manageable for him. I knew that if I brought him close enough to the proverbial "barn" he would smell it and find some strength to kick. Jeff Turner caught up to us, and we were able to latch on. However, not for long - Benjamin's side ache was so violent that he started to scream. Interesting observation - the only time he gets this type of pain (on the right side) is when you would expect him to be low on fuel. He got it right after he finished the Thanksgiving 4 miler (not long enough to cause a fuel problem for a trained adult, but 5:17 pace at altitude for 14 year old can push the matter), then he got it when he did a 7.3 mile warm-up followed by a 3 mile tempo, and another time was in the last 1.25 miles of the 2x3 tempo workout - when he had almost 5 miles of tempo running combined with the total of 9.5 miles for the day on the odometer. And now at the end of this half. I have had a pain like this myself on numerous occasions in the marathon when I was low on fuel. Cannot find any research that backs this up, but I am suspecting it has to do with the liver being taxed to put glucose into the bloodstream.

I slowed down with Benjamin and Jeff opened a gap on us. However, Benjamin toughed out the pain and shifted gears. When he did I could not follow him but I cheered him from behind. He caught up to Jeff and outkicked him gapping him by 5 seconds. I do not know how I managed to let both of them open up so much gap on me - I did not really feel that tired. I suppose it was from the emotions of worrying about my son. I did not feel super-emotional on the surface, but apparently deep down there was more going on because I just could not focus on my own race. Jeff beat me by 17 seconds, Benjamin 22.

Then Burt picked us up, we went to his house, showered, ate breakfast, and drove back home. Made it to the Provo Airport in a rental car in 9 hours.

Some takeback from the race. We need to work on fuel. Some of it will come naturally with age, but I have thought of some good workouts. 10 mile tempo with 5 up the canyon at around 6:15 and the back down at 5:45. Our regular 2x3. And a 10 mile tempo down the canyon - see if Benjamin can run that one at 5:30 pace. Based on that we will set a time goal for Utah Valley. And of course, we need to watch the speed development and address it as needed.

12 total. Benjamin did 5, Jenny 4, Julia 3, Joseph and Jacob 3, William 1. Jacob did the mile time trial at Orem High track. It went better this time. I gave him the inhaler before the start. He opened in 1:34, then 1:41, 1:42, and kicked in 1:37 finishing in 6:36.4 with the balance going towards the 9.34 meter tax. He missed his PR by 0.1 s but it was still a very good result - the temperatures were barely above freezing which makes it difficult for little kids. Benjamin could run at the top of his potential in those conditions, for example, but younger kids will be at least 10 seconds off.

Did 20 miles today as it was not going to work on Saturday due to the Utah Junior High Chess Championship where Benjamin and Jenny were playing. I did the first 15 with the kids - Benjamin did 9, Joseph and Jacob 3, Julia 3, Jenny 2, William 1, and then the last 5 fast. I was happy with how the last 5 went. The course was out and back with hills and wind, so I figured it I may not even be able to go under 6:00, but I felt strong and was able to run 29:36 with the splits of 5:50, 6:03, 6:00, 5:43, 6:00.

Benjamin and Jenny played in the first three rounds of the championship. Benjamin won all three games, Jenny won two, and lost one. While they were playing I went to the zoo with the rest of the family.

A.M. Total of 10. Did 6 alone and 4 with Joseph. Benjamin did 2 with Jacob. Jenny did 2, Julia 3, William 1. Then I took Benjamin and Jenny to the remaining three rounds of the Utah Junior High Chess Championship.

Benjamin ended up winning the whole thing with a perfect score - he won his last three games and was the only player with the score of 6. The way the system works is that with each round you usually get a tougher opponent if you keep winning. If you enter the turnament with a high rating, you start with relatively tough ones, but not the strongest, and you play the best ones towards the end. Benjamin calls the earlier rounds devouring meat. If you are lower-rated, you are considered meat, otherwise the meat-eater. Benjamin was the meat eater in this tournament. Sometimes the meat is feisty and will fight really hard. In fact, the last years champion choked on his meat in the first round today hanging his queen which effectively put him out of contention for the win. This did help Benjamin, but of course he needed to consume his meat without choking to make it which he managed successfully.

In the second round of the day (fifth total) he was paired against another lion that beat him last year, and that had been served Jenny as meat the day before which he consumed successfully. So Benjamin had two strong reasons to win - to avenge for himself, and to avenge for his little sister. Benjamin succeeded, and afterwards I teased him with a Russian poem that roughly translates as this: "I will not let anyone hurt my little sister, I love her very much. But when I need to, I will beat her up".

The last round was quite exciting. His opponent was rated 1960, only 40 points short of the expert rank, and had won the Utah High School championship this year already - a 9th grader is allowed to play in both junior high and high school. A tough player, but he botched his attack and hung a knight on a tactic. Benjamin saw the tactic, made the needed exclamation mark move and picked up the piece. After that his opponent's position fell apart, although his opponent tried a good number of game-saving stalemating tricks, but Benjamin saw through that.

Jenny won two more games losing one, and finished 19th overall with the score of 4. She was the second girl. I was telling my mother about that later as we talked on Skype and she asked why girls competed directly against boys. I explained that Americans believe in gender equality :-)

If you look at the ethnicity of Benjamin's opponents you would think he was playing in New York or some other place with a lot of immigrants. His first opponent was Vietnamese, then Chinese, again Chinese, then Latino, then Indian (from India), and finally Chinese in the last round. There was a significant number of white players, about half maybe, but the reason for this apparent distribution anomality is that Benjamin played on the second board in the first five rounds, and on the top one in the last one. To make the second board in the first round you need to either have a high rating or have the honor of being selected as meat. After that, usually you have to have won all of your previous games to be there.

Day of rest. Went to church. Matthew for some reason did not want to stay in the Elder's Quorum, but he volunteered to go to High Priests, so I followed him and he was quite happy there. They had a good lesson there on faith and repentance. Alma 34:28-29 was quoted:

And now behold, my beloved brethren, I say unto you, do not suppose that this is all; for after ye have done all these things, if ye turn away the needy, and the naked, and visit not the sick and afflicted, and impart of your substance, if ye have, to those who stand in need—I say unto you, if ye do not any of these things, behold, your prayer is vain, and availeth you nothing, and ye are as hypocrites who do deny the faith.

29 Therefore, if ye do not remember to be charitable, ye are as dross, which the refiners do cast out, (it being of no worth) and is trodden under foot of men.

Tempo run with Benjamin back to the house. He started struggling after the first 2 miles and could barely run 5:50. Still not fully recovered from the Phoenix half, the heart is still weak I think. I told him to up his sleep and drink hawthornberry tea. I felt quite good on this, better than I expected. We ran the first 1.5 at 5:30 pace, and I was willing to keep it longer.

Total of 12. Yesterday Benjamin stepped on a drain plug that popped out of position and had the sharp pins upwards and punctured his heel. So running today required a heroic effort for him. He could only manage 4 miles. Joseph did 4, Jacob 2, William 1, Julia 2, Jenny 4.

Total of 13. Jacob and Joseph did a mile time trial on the track. They both missed their PRs by a little bit - possibly because it was too windy. They did 3 miles. Benjamin did 4, William 1, Jenny 5.5, Julia 2.

Leg 1

Distance

Time

Pace

Comment

1

9:24.40.

9:24.40

Warm-up to the track.

Split#

Distance

Time

Pace

Comment

1

1.000

9:24.40

9:24.40

Leg 2

Distance

Time

Pace

Comment

1

6:43.90.

6:43.90

Time trial with Joseph and Jacob. I paced Joseph, Benjamin paced Jacob. Joseph got 6:13.5, Jacob 6:43.9. Joseph missed his PR by 1 second, Jacob by 7 seconds. He had a hard time breathing even though I gave him the inhaler before. Maybe I did not give to him quite right and it was not fully effective.

Split#

Distance

Time

Pace

Comment

1

1.000

6:13.50

6:13.50

Joseph opened in 89, then 93 - so far so good, but then he slowed down to 96, and could not kick at the end with the last lap being only 93, which killed the record.

2

0.000

0:30.40

This split is waiting for Jacob and Benjamin. Jacob struggled with asthma, which made him slow down to 1:44 in the third lap, and the record went out of the window with that.

Total of 11.5. The run was spread throughout the day. Benjamin and I took Julia, Joseph, Jacob, and William to the Utah Elementary Chess Championship. Julia, Joseph, and Jacob got 4 points out of 6, William got 2.5 out of 6. Julia won 3 games, drew 2, and lost 1. Joseph and Jacob won 4 each and lost 2 each. William won 2, drew 1, and lost 4. Some highlights of the tournament - Joseph lost his first 2 games. I asked him how. He said his opponent checkmated his with overwhelming material. I asked him why he did not have the material to defend. He did not have a good answer. Then I told him I did not care if he won or lost his next game, but I wanted him to know exactly how his pieces were disappearing from the board. Then he won his next 4 games. Jacob impressed me by checkmating his opponent with a king and a rook in the last round. This is a difficult checkmate for a 7 year old, and particularly difficult after playing for 6 hours. William played in the kindergarten division. This was a good experience for him in learning how to deal with realities of life. By a miracle he managed to win 2 games. The first one I think was through psychological methods - his opponent decided to resign. He drew when his opponent stalemated him with a king and a queen. He lost one game on time - he and his opponent played for so long that they were the only ones left in the round after some time. So they were put on the clock. William by a miracle actually had a winning position, but at the age of 5 he did not know how to win it. In another game he won legitimately with checkmate, although we have a strong suspicion that there were some illegal moves en-route to it. But the most important experience was learning how to be accountable for his losses. When you finish the game, you are supposed to go to the tournament official and report the result. William was happy to do it when he won, but did not want to do it when he lost. He eventually learned. Benjamin ran a total of 7.35 miles, Jenny 4, Julia, Joseph, and Jacob 2.1, William 1.

Leg 1

Distance

Time

Pace

Comment

3

20:59.80.

6:59.93

Alone in the morning.

Split#

Distance

Time

Pace

Comment

1

3.000

20:59.80

6:59.93

Leg 2

Distance

Time

Pace

Comment

1

9:54.30.

9:54.30

With William.

Split#

Distance

Time

Pace

Comment

1

1.000

9:54.30

9:54.30

Leg 3

Distance

Time

Pace

Comment

2.1

16:52.50.

8:02.14

With Joseph, Jacob, Julia, and Benjamin at the U of U track after the tournament.

Day of rest. Went to church. Matthew behaved today. I was able to attend the new member class in Sunday School and the Elder's Quorum as well. We had a lesson on the topic Our Father in Heaven and briefly discussed the creation recalling a quote from Elder Nelson: "Can an explosion at a printing shop produce a dictionary?" The Elder's Quorum lesson was on the significance of the Sacrament.

Total of 12. Benjamin did 9, Jenny 4, Julia 2, Joseph and Jacob 3, William 1.

Leg 1

Distance

Time

Pace

Comment

3

25:53.30.

8:37.77

With Joseph, Jacob, and Benjamin.

Split#

Distance

Time

Pace

Comment

1

3.000

25:53.30

8:37.77

Leg 2

Distance

Time

Pace

Comment

6

48:01.40.

8:00.23

With Benjamin. Did some AIME problem solving. Those are fun to solve on the run, but good practice. Benjamin's visual on-the-run algebraic ability has improved and is now exceeding mine. When I say it is time for paper, he still wants to bash it out in his head, and he succeeds. I suppose I deserve this - this is what you get for having your kid derive the volume of a sphere formula while running at the age of 12. Yes, I made him integrate pi*(R^2-x^2)dx from -R to R in his head while running and I made him figure out that this is what he was supposed to integrate to get the volume as well.

Total of 13. Joseph did 4, Benjamin 9, Jacob 2, William 1, Jenny 2, Julia 2. Benjamin and I repeated the 3.5 mile tempo run from last week with better results for both of us. Details below.

Leg 1

Distance

Time

Pace

Comment

4

33:52.00.

8:28.00

With Joseph. Did some mental math with inequalities and absolute values in the first half going a little faster than 9:00, then stopped talking in the second half and ran in the low 8:00s.

Split#

Distance

Time

Pace

Comment

1

4.000

33:52.00

8:28.00

Leg 2

Distance

Time

Pace

Comment

3.5

27:53.80.

7:58.23

Warm-up with Benjamin.

Split#

Distance

Time

Pace

Comment

1

3.500

27:53.80

7:58.23

Leg 3

Distance

Time

Pace

Comment

3.5

19:30.70.

5:34.49

The purpose of the tempo was to test Benjamin's recovery from the Phoenix half. He did much better than last week, and that pushed me to do better as well. The target was 5:36 pace in the canyon, then once we hit the hills just try not to bleed too much. We held slightly sub-5:30 average all the way to the Center street (2.75 miles), I survived by a miracle, then Benjamin slowed down on the hills over the next 2 miles to 5:50. I was still with him with 300 to go, but then he cranked it up on the uphill at the end, and I had nothing left. So he finished with 19:23, a new course PR, and I was 7 seconds back also with a new course PR. So good result for Benjamin, but he probably still needs another week. If he was fully recovered, he would not have had the 5:50 plop over that half mile, even though it was uphill.

Total of 13. Benjamin did 9, Joseph 3, Jacob 3, William 1, Jenny 4, Julia 2. Attempted a mile time trial with Joseph and Jacob but it did not go very well. It was rather cold - 33 F, plus Joseph's legs were hurting, plus Jacob hit an asthma attack. Details below.

Leg 1

Distance

Time

Pace

Comment

1

9:41.90.

9:41.90

Warm-up with Joseph, Jacob, and Benjamin.

Split#

Distance

Time

Pace

Comment

1

1.000

9:41.90

9:41.90

Leg 2

Distance

Time

Pace

Comment

1

6:49.50.

6:49.50

This split shows Joseph's time. He opened in 93, then just coasted after that. Jacob was not doing well, but he almost caught Joseph and finished in 6:53. Joseph complained that his legs were hurting and could not move. Jacob hit an asthma attack.

Split#

Distance

Time

Pace

Comment

1

1.000

6:49.50

6:49.50

Leg 3

Distance

Time

Pace

Comment

1

9:14.90.

9:14.90

Cool-down.

Split#

Distance

Time

Pace

Comment

1

1.000

9:14.90

9:14.90

Leg 4

Distance

Time

Pace

Comment

6

46:47.40.

7:47.90

With Benjamin. Discussed plans of how to solve Jacob's asthma attack problem. Today we gave him the inhaler, but it still happened. We decided we just need to do the time trials when it is warmer - 33F is too cold for him.

20 miles total. Benjamin did 12.35, Jenny 4, Julia 2, Joseph 4, Jacob 2, William 1. Benjamin and I did a 6 mile tempo run - details below. I finished the workout with another 2 mile tempo as well.

Leg 1

Distance

Time

Pace

Comment

4

35:46.50.

8:56.62

With Joseph.

Split#

Distance

Time

Pace

Comment

1

4.000

35:46.50

8:56.62

Leg 2

Distance

Time

Pace

Comment

4.35

34:04.00.

7:49.89

With Benjamin from the press building to the magic spot on the old highway.

Split#

Distance

Time

Pace

Comment

1

4.350

34:04.00

7:49.89

Leg 3

Distance

Time

Pace

Comment

6

34:39.90.

5:46.65

Tempo run with Benjamin. He had a side ache issue again. This time it got pretty bad. We had to stop twice in the middle of the tempo to massage it and do some squats and sit-ups. It went away and became manageable after the treatment. On one hand it looks like some disturbance of the diaphragm. But on the other hand those pains have always correlated with being low on fuel. Except this time the pace was relatively slow. But we did have significant headwind. I have experienced side-aches in conjunction with the headwind before - most memorable case in the St. George Marathon 1998.

Split#

Distance

Time

Pace

Comment

1

6.000

34:39.90

5:46.65

Leg 4

Distance

Time

Pace

Comment

3.65

27:45.60.

7:36.33

From the house to the magic spot in the canyon. Felt low on fuel, was not sure if I'd be able to run 6:00 for the last 2 miles, but decided to move on faith - that is how you develop the marathon endurance.

Split#

Distance

Time

Pace

Comment

1

3.650

27:45.60

7:36.33

Leg 5

Distance

Time

Pace

Comment

2

11:44.90.

5:52.45

Faith-based tempo. One foot in front of the other. Somehow managed 5:52 pace.

Total of 12.4. Benjamin did 10.35, Jenny 4, Julia 3, Joseph and Jacob 3, William 1. Eventful day. Learning from the past experiences with Joseph and Jacob we decided to wait until it was warmer for the time trial. So Benjamin and I ran 7.35 first with a 3.5 mile tempo. Then we did the time trial with Joseph and Jacob, which went very well. Details below.

Leg 1

Distance

Time

Pace

Comment

3.85

30:54.90.

8:01.79

Warm-up with Benjamin.

Split#

Distance

Time

Pace

Comment

1

3.850

30:54.90

8:01.79

Leg 2

Distance

Time

Pace

Comment

3.5

19:42.00.

5:37.71

Tempo run from the magic spot in the Provo Canyon to the house. First 2 miles down the canyon, then a little bit of rolling down, then up to the house for the last mile. We opened with a 5:28 mile, then Benjamin turned up the heat on me and dropped me. His mile was 5:20, mine 5:27. After that he maintained 5:30 until the last half mile, I maintained 5:45 until the last half mile. He struggled at the end but still ended up with 19:13 - sub-5:30 average.

Split#

Distance

Time

Pace

Comment

1

3.500

19:42.00

5:37.71

Leg 3

Distance

Time

Pace

Comment

1.05

9:50.50.

9:22.38

Warm-up with Benjamin, Joseph, and Jacob to the track.

Split#

Distance

Time

Pace

Comment

1

1.050

9:50.50

9:22.38

Leg 4

Distance

Time

Pace

Comment

1

6:30.00.

6:30.00

The time trial. Joseph ran 6:09.2 - new PR by 3.4 seconds and first time under 6:10. Jacob got 6:30.0 - new PR by 6.3 seconds, and a new family pre-baptism age record (Joseph's best pre-baptism time was 6:52, Benjamin's 7:12). Benjamin's best Joseph's age (early 9) time was 6:29. So Joseph so far is 20 seconds ahead of Benjamin, and Jacob is 42 seconds ahead of Benjamin. If this holds, Jacob will be running 4:10 mile at the age of 15. Splits - Joseph - 89, 93, 94, 90. Jacob - 96, 99, 99, 94. The temperature was good - 50 F. A little bit of wind, but I blocked it for Joseph, and Benjamin blocked it for Jacob.

Split#

Distance

Time

Pace

Comment

1

1.000

6:09.20

6:09.20

Joseph's split.

2

0.000

0:20.80

0:00.00

Waiting for Jacob to finish.

Leg 5

Distance

Time

Pace

Comment

1

9:08.90.

9:08.90

Cool-down with Joseph, Jacob, and Benjamin.

Split#

Distance

Time

Pace

Comment

1

1.000

9:08.90

9:08.90

Leg 6

Distance

Time

Pace

Comment

1.02

8:54.40.

8:43.92

With Jenny and William running, and Matthew in the stroller on the big boy course.

Total of 12. Benjamin did 9.25, Jenny 4, Julia 3, Joseph 3, Jacob 2, William 1. Benjamin did a "break out the rust" mile time trial on the track at Orem High. I helped him in the first and third lap, and Joseph and Jacob raced him in the last. Details below.

Leg 1

Distance

Time

Pace

Comment

1.311

11:55.50.

9:05.77

Warm-up with strides.

Split#

Distance

Time

Pace

Comment

1

1.000

9:12.60

9:12.60

Jog to the track with Joseph, Benjamin, and Jacob.

2

0.062

0:17.50

4:42.26

100 meter stride with Benjamin.

3

0.062

0:43.90

11:48.06

Recovery for 100 meters.

4

0.062

0:16.70

4:29.35

100 meter stride.

5

0.125

1:24.80

11:18.40

Recovery for 200 meters.

Leg 2

Distance

Time

Pace

Comment

0.496

4:52.50.

9:49.72

Mile time trial. The plan was to try to maintain 70 seconds per lap without bleeding too much. The first lap was perfect, second acceptable, Benjamin had a mental meltdown in the third, but recovered a little in the last. All in all, 4:52 is not too bad for the first try in 33 F with almost nothing at mile race pace. But it should have been 4:48 with proper psychological preparation with everything else being the same.

Split#

Distance

Time

Pace

Comment

1

0.248

1:09.80

4:41.45

Everything was perfect in this lap. I managed to hit the right pace and Benjamin seemed to handle it just fine.

2

0.000

1:13.00

Benjamin was alone here and I think the wind got to him and played tricks with his mind.

3

0.248

1:16.00

5:06.45

This lap was a disaster. Two years ago such laps produced a split of 85. Now at least we progressed to 76. Benjamin started to get negative in the second lap when it got hard, but now he had an audience for his complaints. So the first 200 meters of this lap I had to do some coaxing and Benjamin was vehemently talking back. Naturally, this was not very productive. For both of us the oxygen flow was less than optimal. Benjamin knows that very well, but sometimes in the absence of oxygen or glycogen he gets hit with a compulsive complaining disorder. He thought he was over it by now, and I naively thought that too, but, as I told him afterwards - once an alcoholic always an alcoholic - you have to be humble and be ready for a compulsive complaining disorder attack at all times. Half way through the third lap he came to himself and started running normally, but it was now difficult to speed up.

4

0.000

1:12.00

With Jacob's and Joseph's help taking turns for 100 and then 200 meters and not wanting to be outrun by his little brothers Benjamin kicked and managed a 72 for the last lap.

5

0.000

0:01.70

9.34 meter tax. Less than 1%!

Leg 3

Distance

Time

Pace

Comment

1

9:07.70.

9:07.70

Back to the house with Benjamin, Joseph, and Jacob.

Split#

Distance

Time

Pace

Comment

1

1.000

9:07.70

9:07.70

Leg 4

Distance

Time

Pace

Comment

6

50:08.90.

8:21.48

With Benjamin. We did not move very fast.

Split#

Distance

Time

Pace

Comment

1

6.000

50:08.90

8:21.48

Leg 5

Distance

Time

Pace

Comment

0.52

3:05.00.

5:55.77

Back to meet Julia, and then finished with her. Hilly segment here, so the effort was more than the time shows.

Day oif rest. Went to church. Missed a good portion of the Sacrament meeting due to William causing trouble at first, then had to take Matthew out. We had another missionary home coming. Was able to attend Sunday school - we talked about us being children of God and what that means. Then in the Elders' Quorum we studied President Uchtdorf's talk from the last General Conference. I like the statement "Doubt your doubts before you doubt your faith".